Roving Periscope: Poll-clock ticking, under LLD pressure, the US harps on Kejriwal, again; adds Cong too

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: Trying a second shot—and presumably the last—at the White House in November 2024, incumbent US President Joe Biden appears under extreme pressure from the liberal-left-democratic (LLD) cabal at home to take on India, whose Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “autograph” he had sought only last year.

Biden, 81, is engaged in a fierce electoral fight against his predecessor Donald Trump, 77, as they both seek a second term as the next US President. They are stitching together every vote to make it to the White House. For the Democrats, the LLDs are a key support base.

But both New Delhi and Washington know these are election-time stunts. The US rhetoric will end after June 4 when India’s Lok Sabha poll results are out and it will be business as usual.

That explains the LLD-inspired “US” supporting Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, its ‘asset’ in India, despite courts rejecting pleas to release him and New Delhi protesting against American ‘interference’ in its judicial process and warning against ‘unhealthy precedents.’

Undeterred by India’s strong reaction on Wednesday, the US reiterated its stand on Thursday to keep the pot boiling and trying to influence the outcome of the coming elections in both the democracies.

After New Delhi summoned a senior US diplomat on Wednesday to register its objection to the State Department’s unwarranted remarks on Kejriwal’s arrest on corruption charges, the US on Thursday reiterated that it “follows these actions closely” and “encourages fair, transparent, timely legal processes.”

“We continue to follow these actions closely, including the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.”

And to add some more beef to rhetoric, the US also raked up the Congress issue.

“We are also aware of the Congress Party’s allegations that tax authorities have frozen some of their bank accounts in a manner that will make it challenging to effectively campaign in the upcoming elections. And we encourage fair, transparent, and timely legal processes for each of these issues,” the media quoted US State Department spokesperson Matthew Millar as saying.

He was responding to a question on India summoning the US diplomat over comments on CM Kejriwal’s arrest, and the freezing of the Congress’ bank accounts. Gloria Berbena, the US Acting Deputy Chief of Mission in New Delhi, was with the MEA officials for nearly 40 minutes on Wednesday, the media reported.

As the US raked up India’s internal issues again, India also reacted sharply.

At a press briefing on Thursday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the US remarks on Kejriwal’s arrest in the liquor policy are “unwarranted.”

“Yesterday, India lodged a strong objection and protest with a senior official of the US Embassy about the comments made by the US State Department. The recent remarks by the State Department are unwarranted. Any such external imputation on our electoral and legal processes is completely unacceptable.

“In India, legal processes are driven only by the rule of law. Anyone who has a similar ethos, especially fellow democracies, should have no difficulty in appreciating this fact.

“India is proud of its independent and robust democratic institutions. We are committed to protecting them from any form of undue external influences.” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

“States are expected to be respectful of the sovereignty and internal affairs of others, and this responsibility is even more so in the case of fellow democracies. It could otherwise end up setting unhealthy precedents,” the MEA said.

“India’s legal processes are based on an independent judiciary which is committed to objective and timely outcomes. Casting aspersions on that is unwarranted,” he asserted.

The US remarks came days after Germany’s Foreign Office said that Kejriwal is entitled to a fair and impartial trial. New Delhi reacted to it strongly and summoned the German envoy, labeling the remark “blatant interference in India’s internal matters.”

Meanwhile, the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi on Thursday extended Kejriwal’s remand until April 1.

The Enforcement Directorate had arrested him on March 21 in the alleged liquor scam and got his custody until today (Thursday).

Earlier on Thursday, the Delhi High Court, observing that there is no scope for judicial interference, rejected pleas seeking Kejriwal’s sacking as Chief Minister.

In separate cases, the court also dismissed the Congress petitions against tax reassessment proceedings.